Cooking with KP: May 2017

Star Spangled Lemon and Berry Pie

This recipe is the result of reading and combining three recipes I found on the internet. It is not overly sweet and very cool and refreshing. This recipe makes two pies.

Ingredients:

2 ready- made pie crusts in tin pans
1 pie crust sheet
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon sugar

6 cups of washed strawberries (cut in half) and blueberries (you could add some raspberries)
1 container of strawberry glaze (13.5 ounces)

6 egg yolks
1 can of sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 Tablespoons of fresh lemon zest
2 containers (5.3 ounces each) Chobani Lemon Blend Greek Yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly sprinkle flour on smooth surface and lay pie crust sheet on top of flour. Using star cookie cutter, cut several stars. Place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray or that has parchment paper (which is what I prefer). Brush the stars with a little water and then sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake two pie crusts and stars for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and let sit 3-5 minutes to cool some. While pie crusts are baking, in a large bowl, mix on low speed egg yolks until smooth. Add condensed milk and continue mixing. Add lemon zest, vanilla, yogurt and blend well. Then pour in lemon juice and finish mixing. Pour half of mixture into each pie shell. Bake in oven for 20 minutes until filling is firm. Place on cooling rack and let cool for 10 minutes.
In large bowl, mix berries and strawberry glaze. Spread on top of lemon filling. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving. Top with stars and enjoy!
Refrigerate any leftover pie.

Sauteed Cabbage with Smoked Sausage

I found the basic recipe for this online, but made a few adjustments to suit our tastes. I think you will

enjoy this.

1 bag (16 ounces) of shredded cabbage Cole slaw mix with carrots

1 pound of beef smoked sausage, cut into round slices (I used Conecuh brand sauce)

1 small onion, diced

1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 bud of garlic, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon seasoned salt

1 tablespoon garlic powder

½ tablespoon pepper

1-2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and then add sausage slices, saute the slices over medium heat until lightly browned (about 3 minutes). Add onions, garlic, and bell peppers to sausage slices. Continue sauteing until onions are softened. Add bag of Cole slaw mix, salt, garlic powder, and pepper, and saute for 5-8 minutes until cabbage is soft but not mushy. When at the tenderness you desire, sprinkle apple cider vinegar over cabbage mixture and toss. Serve hot! It is great as a side dish for barbecue meats.

Creamy Swiss Chicken Casserole

This is not my original recipe. It has been all over the internet for years. I just made a couple adaptions.

6 boneless skinless chicken breasts (not too thick)
6 slices Swiss Cheese
2 cans of cream of chicken soup (I highly recommend using the low sodium version)
1 cup milk
1 box of stuffing mix (I use Stove Top Cornbread Flavor)
1/2 stick of margarine or butter, melted
pepper and garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 casserole dish with cooking spray. Lay chicken breasts down in casserole dish. Sprinkle tops of breasts with garlic powder and pepper. Top each breast with a slice of Swiss cheese. In a mixing bowl, mix 2 cans of soup and milk. Pour over top of chicken breasts. Next, open stuffing mix and sprinkle on top of the soup mixture. Drizzle melted butter over top of crumbs. Cover casserole with foil and bake for 50-60 minutes or until chicken reaches 180 degrees on meat thermometer and juices run clear.

Note the stuffing is being used as topping not as a serving of stuffing mix. So, you might want to make another box of stuffing on the stove top while this is cooking or serve on rice, pasta, or mashed potatoes. There will be lots of gravy for the stuffing, rice, pasta, or potatoes.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

Cheaper Cuts of Beef Don't Have To Be Tough

Most people avoid the cheaper cuts of beef because they tend to be tough. With 8 children and three adults in our home, my mother had to find ways to tenderize the cheaper cuts of beef. One way to cook "down", as my mother used to say, a tough cut of beef steak is to season both sides of the steak with garlic powder, seasoned salt and pepper. Lightly brown the steak in a large skillet and on top add a diced green bell pepper, medium onion, a bay leaf, parsley flakes, a few dashes of Worchestershire sauce, and a can of diced tomatoes. Cover with lid. Let the steak simmer for 30-50 minutes. Remove lid and thicken juices by cooking 5-10 more minutes. You can also do the same with a cheap beef roast in a crock pot. Add all the ingredients in crock pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours. The flavor is simple, amazing and great with mashed potatoes.

Fall Vegetables for a Healthy You

As the fall approaches, we will all start to stay indoors more hours. This will lessen our vitamins, such as vitamin A, D, and K, which are enhanced by sunlight. Below are a few vegetables you might want to increase in your diet as the fall and later winter days approach. Besides, they are very tasty. In fact, in the next few weeks, I will be posting recipes that incorporate many of these delicious veggies.

Sweet potatoes and yams are very rich in carotenoids, vitamins A, B6, C, potassium, iron and fiber and are delicious when baked and eaten plain (without butter) or used in soups, casseroles or stir-fries.

Bell peppers are great sources of potassium, manganese, fiber and vitamins A, B, C and K. These sweet peppers are flavorful additions to salads and healthy stir-fries. You can choose from a rainbow of colors, including: green peppers,yellow peppers, orange peppers,and red peppers.

Summer and winter squash are rich in carotenoids, vitamins A and C, potassium, magnesium and fiber and can be served alone or added to many dishes.

Just a few tips for you...

Spray your Tupperware with nonstick cooking spray before pouring in tomato- based sauces. No more stains!

Use lifesavers candy to hold candles in place on your next birthday cake! Kids love them.

Stuff a miniature marshmallow in the bottom of a sugarcone to prevent ice cream drips!

Zap garlic cloves in the microwave for 15 seconds and the skins slip right off!

If your celery begins to wilt in the fridge, fill a large cup half full of water and place celery in the cup. Put back in the fridge for two hours--it will be crisp. (Learned this from my mother).

Cooking Myth Busted

A Potato Can Save a Salty Soup or Stew. True or False? False. "This is an attractive idea, but it doesn't work because potatoes are not particularly absorbent," says Wolke, who conducted his own soup-and-potato experiment for his Cooking Myth Busters book. "There is no reason they would attract salt." If you remove the raw potato from the soup, the potato will taste salty, but so would a sponge — it has simply soaked up some of the salty liquid. Still, there is hope for salty stews: Adding a bit of vinegar or sugar can "cancel out" the saltiness by giving your taste buds competing flavors.

Super Moist Turkey

If you are looking for a way to get a moist turkey, you might try one of these family hints:

1--bake the turkey upside down--breast down for the first half of the cooking time. It will help the darker meat cook more thoroughly and the fatty juices of the darker meat will drip down to the breast and add moistness. Use a deep roasting pan for this.

2--bake the turkey with the breast up, but rub it with butter, garlic powder and pepper only. Do not salt the skin. Instead, mix salt in a cup of warm water and pour that cup of salted warm-not hot-water inside the cavity of the turkey. The salt water will steam up into the turkey, making it very moist.

3. bake the turkey with the breast up and slice two lemons and one orange in halves. Place the halves inside the seasoned turkey and the juices will steam into the meat, adding moisture and flavor.

Hint of the Week

Here is something I learned from my wonderful Mother, the greatest cook I have ever known. When you have just a small serving of cooked vegetables leftover from dinner, don't throw them away. Keep a large plastic container in the freezer and put the vegetables in the container. Mix them--carrots, corn, green beans, broccoli, etc. When the container is full make a pot of soup or stew. Also, if a recipe calls for 1/2 a chopped onion, chop the whole onion and add the half to the freezer container. My mother made the best vegetable soups from this idea.

Hint for the Week

With Fourth of July quickly approaching, you might be thinking of making Deviled Eggs. If you want perfectly boiled eggs, place eggs in a large pot and completely cover with cold water. Do not layer eggs on top of one another. Bring water to a rapid boil for 2 minutes, reduce to simmer and let eggs simmer 8 minutes, return to boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and empty hot water and fill pot with cold water. Let sit for 5 minutes. To peel easily, slightly crush shell in your fist and roll on counter with a firm grip. Of course, you don't want to push through the egg, but by making the shell crack in many small pieces, it is easier to peel. My father saw this on a cooking show years ago and taught me this. It truly works.